1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to testing communication devices and, more particularly, to methods and systems for generating a test plan for a communication device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, after a communication device is designed or installed, the communication device needs to be tested. A test tool may be used to test the communication device. Typical features of the communication device that can be tested include: (1) reliability (e.g., mean time before failure, mean time to repair, etc.); (2) stability; (3) recoverability; (4) performance (e.g., throughput, bandwidth capacity, rate, etc.); (5) compatibility (e.g., interface issues, etc.); (6) scalability (i.e., ability to add more communication devices or more capacity); and (7) manageability (e.g., Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) monitoring, etc.).
Due to the complexity of communication devices and test tools in general, a typical user usually does not have the expertise to use the test tools in conjunction with the communication devices to achieve the user's test goals. As a result, the user needs to refer to a test plan, which is essentially an instruction on how to test the communication device. The user may refer to a publication (e.g., publications by the manufacturer of the communication device, methodologies devised by independent labs, The Journal of Test Methodology, etc.) or rely on the expertise of a person (e.g., software engineers, field engineers, test tool vendors, etc.) to design a test plan. The problem with publications is that the solutions provided are generic and are often not applicable to custom configurations or problems. Furthermore, there are many publications to search and, as a result, designing test plans by using publications can be time consuming.
Designing a test plan also requires a thorough knowledge of the test tools, communication equipment, and test methodologies. A test plan designed by an expert is often inadequate because the expert's expertise is typically limited due to the enormous complexity of the testing field as well as the enormous complexity of communications equipment. Thus, the quality of the test plan designed by the expert can be unpredictable.
The numerous solutions outlined above to generate a test plan can be burdensome, time consuming, not applicable to custom configurations, unpredictable, and will likely require the user to have a thorough knowledge of testing methodologies. As a result, there is a need to provide a reliable and fast system, which can be easily operated by a user without a thorough knowledge of testing methodologies, for generating test plans that can provide solutions to the user's particular needs.